How Much Does a Kitchen Renovation Cost in Ireland? (2026)

Last updated: 16 June 2026 · By Mossy Tariq, Founder — Property Blueprint Co.

The kitchen renovation cost in Ireland question rarely has the answer a homeowner is hoping for, because the honest answer is a range, and the range is wide. A kitchen renovation in Ireland can land anywhere from €5,000 for a cosmetic refresh to €50,000 for a full structural rework — and the difference between those two numbers is not luck. It is the sum of decisions made before a single trade arrives on site.

What pushes the kitchen renovation cost in Ireland from the bottom of that range toward the top is not extravagance. It is the layout change nobody costed, the electrical rewire nobody flagged, the worktop upgrade chosen after the quote was signed. Irish renovation specialists put the broad market bands at €5,000–€10,000 for a budget or basic refresh, €10,000–€25,000 for a mid-range renovation, and €25,000–€50,000 for a high-end project — and where you land inside that span is decided by the brief, not the builder.

A kitchen budget is not a number you pick.
It is a number you defend, decision by decision.

This article lays out the real cost structure of an Irish kitchen renovation — the bands, the per-square-metre figures, what eats the budget, and the regulatory and tax facts that quietly move the final invoice. The aim is that a prepared homeowner reads it and walks into the first trade conversation already knowing what the trade knows.

What does a kitchen renovation cost in Ireland in 2026?

Irish renovation specialists describe three broad bands, and most kitchens fall cleanly into one of them. A budget or basic renovation — new units, worktops, taps, and appliances installed into the existing layout with the plumbing and electrics largely where they are — typically runs €5,000–€10,000. This is a refresh, not a rebuild, and it stays affordable precisely because nothing structural moves.

A mid-range renovation runs €10,000–€25,000. This is the band most family kitchens land in: better units, a stone or quartz worktop, an integrated appliance package, some reconfiguration of the layout, and the plumbing and electrical work that follows when a hob or sink shifts position. The jump from the budget band is driven almost entirely by two things — the quality of the units and whether the services move.

A high-end renovation runs €25,000–€50,000. At this level the homeowner is usually moving walls, fitting bespoke or premium units, specifying high-end appliances, and often combining the kitchen with a dining or living space. The figure climbs because every trade on the project — units, electrical, plumbing, tiling, plastering, flooring — is working to a more demanding specification, and structural change pulls in trades a cosmetic refresh never needs.

What actually drives the price of an Irish kitchen renovation?

The single largest line on most kitchen quotes is the units. Irish renovation specialists note that cabinetry typically accounts for 30–40% of the total spend, which means the units decision is also the budget decision. A homeowner who upgrades from flat-pack to bespoke units has not made a small change — they have moved a third of the entire project.

After units, the biggest mover is whether the services relocate. Leaving the hob, sink, and appliances where they are keeps the electrical and plumbing work to a minimum. Moving them turns a cosmetic refresh into a renovation that needs a registered electrician and a plumber on site, with the associated certification and making-good. Layout ambition, not finish quality, is what most often separates a €12,000 kitchen from a €22,000 one.

Location matters too. Irish renovation specialists put Dublin and the larger cities roughly 10–15% above the national average, driven by trade demand and labour rates rather than materials. A specification that costs €18,000 in a regional town can cost €20,000–€21,000 in Dublin for identical work. This is not a variation to negotiate away — it is a baseline to budget for from the start.

How much should you budget per square metre and for contingency?

For homeowners who prefer to work from floor area, Irish renovation specialists put a typical kitchen renovation at roughly €1,000–€1,500 per square metre, depending on specification and how much the services move. A 12-square-metre kitchen at mid specification therefore sits broadly in the €12,000–€18,000 region — which is a useful cross-check against any quote that arrives well outside it.

The per-square-metre figure is a planning tool, not a contract. It assumes a standard layout and a mid-range finish. The moment a wall comes down, an island is added, or the units jump to bespoke, the rate climbs and the floor-area shortcut stops being reliable. Treat it as the number you start from, then adjust for the specific decisions the project actually involves.

The figure that protects every other figure is the contingency. Irish renovation specialists recommend holding back 10–15% of the total budget for the things that surface once the work starts — the old wiring behind the units, the floor that is not level, the waste pipe that needs rerouting. A €20,000 kitchen needs €2,000–€3,000 of contingency that is not spent on a nicer worktop. The homeowners who run out of money mid-project are almost always the ones who spent the contingency before they had a problem to spend it on.

Do you need planning permission to renovate a kitchen in Ireland?

For most kitchen renovations the answer is no. Internal kitchen renovations are generally classed as exempted development in Ireland — meaning no planning permission is required — provided the use of the building and its external appearance are unchanged. Replacing units, worktops, taps, flooring, and appliances within the existing footprint does not trigger a planning application. The detail and current exemption rules are set out by Citizens Information.

The exemption has a boundary. If the renovation involves an extension to create a larger kitchen, planning permission is only required above the exemption limits — broadly, an extension up to 40 square metres in total can be exempted, subject to conditions on height, position, and how much of the rear garden is built on. A kitchen that stays inside the existing walls is almost always exempt; a kitchen that grows the house is where the rules start to apply.

There is a separate building-control step that catches many homeowners by surprise. Where a renovation is a material alteration to the structure, a Commencement Notice must be lodged with the local authority's Building Control, between 14 and 28 days before work begins. This is not planning permission and it is not optional for qualifying works — it is a distinct notification, and missing the window can stall a project before the first trade is booked.

What about VAT, electrical certs, and the legal side?

VAT is the cost line most homeowners miscalculate, because Irish renovation work is not all charged at the same rate. Renovation services are generally charged at the reduced 13.5% VAT rate. The catch is the two-thirds rule: if the cost of the materials supplied exceeds two-thirds of the total VAT-exclusive price, the whole job is charged at the standard 23% rate instead. The mechanics are set out by Revenue, and on a units-heavy kitchen the difference between 13.5% and 23% on the full invoice is real money.

The certification rules are non-negotiable and specific. All domestic electrical work must be carried out by a Safe Electric registered electrician, who issues a Completion Certificate for the work. Any gas work — relocating or installing a gas hob, for example — must be carried out by a Registered Gas Installer (RGI). These certificates are not paperwork to chase later; they are proof the work is compliant, and a missing cert can surface as a problem when the home is eventually sold.

Two more facts belong in any kitchen budget. The consumer protection body in Ireland is the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), which sets out your rights when a trade's work or contract goes wrong. And a Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate is required whenever a home is sold or rented — so if the kitchen renovation is part of preparing a property for sale, the BER is a cost and a step to schedule, not an afterthought.

How do you stop a kitchen renovation going over budget?

Cost overruns in an Irish kitchen renovation are rarely a single large surprise. They are an accumulation of small decisions made after the budget was set, each one defended as "only a few hundred euro." The discipline that holds the line is sequence: lock each decision before the phase that depends on it, and the variation that would have blown the budget never gets the chance to.

1. Settle the specification before you request quotes. Lock the units profile, worktop material, appliance package, tiling, and flooring in writing first, so every trade prices the same kitchen and the returned quotes are genuinely comparable rather than three different projects.
2. Decide whether the services move before anyone prices the job. Confirm whether the hob, sink, and appliances stay where they are or relocate, because that single choice decides whether you need a registered electrician and plumber on site and reshapes the entire quote.
3. Read every quote for what is excluded, not just what is included. Check each quote for the making-good, the waste removal, the appliance connection, and the certification — the items quietly left out of a low quote are the items that return later as a variation invoice nobody planned for.
4. Ring-fence a 10–15% contingency and do not spend it early. Hold €2,000–€3,000 on a €20,000 kitchen separate from the build budget, so when the old wiring or the uneven floor appears, the project absorbs it without stalling or forcing a compromise on the finish.
5. Verify the certificates before practical completion and final payment. Confirm the Safe Electric Completion Certificate, any RGI gas certificate, and a clear snag list are all in hand before releasing the final payment, because the leverage to compel rework disappears the moment that payment clears.

None of these five steps requires a larger budget. They require the budget to be defended in the right order — which is the difference between a kitchen that finishes near the agreed price and one that does not.

Where does a prepared homeowner start?

A kitchen renovation cost in Ireland is decided long before the build begins — in the brief, the specification, and the contingency, not in the final week on site. The homeowner who sets a real number, defends it decision by decision, and verifies the certificates before paying is the homeowner who ends up close to the figure they started with. The one who treats the budget as a starting point to drift from is the one who learns the cost structure by overrunning it.

This is the work The 12-Phase System is built to do — Property Blueprint Co.'s named mechanism for taking a homeowner from the first quote conversation to practical completion without paying the variation premium the unprepared homeowner pays. The Kitchen Renovation Blueprint runs that system through every phase of a kitchen specifically: the decisions to lock, the quotes to compare, the certificates to demand, and the contingency to protect.

Two related reads sharpen the picture before you start. The most common kitchen renovation mistakes Irish homeowners make shows where the budget actually leaks, and the twelve phases of a renovation lays out the full sequence every kitchen moves through from brief to sign-off.

If the cost baseline is the right first step, use the free Renovation Cost Calculator — a trade-by-trade estimate for your specific kitchen, in under 5 minutes, before any trade has quoted.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a kitchen renovation cost in Ireland in 2026?

A kitchen renovation in Ireland typically costs between €5,000 and €50,000, depending on scope. Irish renovation specialists put a budget or basic refresh at €5,000–€10,000, a mid-range renovation at €10,000–€25,000, and a high-end project at €25,000–€50,000. As a per-square-metre guide, expect roughly €1,000–€1,500 per square metre, with Dublin and the larger cities running around 10–15% above the national average.

What is the biggest cost in a kitchen renovation?

The units are usually the single largest cost. Irish renovation specialists note that cabinetry typically accounts for 30–40% of the total spend, which makes the units decision the budget decision — upgrading from flat-pack to bespoke units moves roughly a third of the entire project. After units, the biggest mover is whether the hob, sink, and appliances relocate, because moving the services pulls in a registered electrician and plumber that a cosmetic refresh never needs.

Do you need planning permission to renovate a kitchen in Ireland?

Usually no. Internal kitchen renovations are generally classed as exempted development, so no planning permission is required, provided the use of the building and its external appearance are unchanged. Planning permission is only needed if the work involves an extension above the exemption limits — broadly an extension up to 40 square metres total can be exempted, subject to conditions. Where the work is a material alteration to the structure, a Commencement Notice must be lodged with Building Control between 14 and 28 days before work begins.

What VAT rate applies to a kitchen renovation in Ireland?

Renovation services are generally charged at the reduced 13.5% VAT rate. However, the two-thirds rule applies: if the cost of the materials supplied exceeds two-thirds of the total VAT-exclusive price, the whole job is charged at the standard 23% rate instead. On a units-heavy kitchen this distinction matters, so it is worth confirming with the trade how the job will be invoiced before signing.

Do I need a certified electrician for kitchen electrical work in Ireland?

Yes. All domestic electrical work must be carried out by a Safe Electric registered electrician, who issues a Completion Certificate for the work. Any gas work, such as relocating a gas hob, must be carried out by a Registered Gas Installer (RGI). These certificates are proof the work is compliant and should be in hand before final payment — a missing certificate can become a problem when the home is later sold.

How much contingency should I budget for a kitchen renovation?

Irish renovation specialists recommend holding back 10–15% of the total budget as contingency for issues that surface once work starts, such as old wiring, an uneven floor, or a waste pipe that needs rerouting. On a €20,000 kitchen that is €2,000–€3,000 kept separate from the build budget. The contingency should not be spent on finish upgrades — it is the buffer that lets the project absorb a surprise without stalling or overrunning.